Academic literature on the topic 'National Gender Policy Framework (Mauritius)'

The corporate strategic planning of businesses in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) largely focuses on immediate financial performance with minimal credence to social sustainability. Thus, studies on the linkage between corporate governance (CG) and sustainability reporting have focused on developed economies. This study therefore investigated the role of institutional ownership in the impact of board committee characteristics on social sustainability reporting. This study involved strongly balanced panel data with 1969 observations of 275 publicly listed non-financial firms in SSA within the timeframe of 2012 to 2021. Data were analyzed using STATA 14.1. The hypotheses were tested using the two-step system of the generalized method of moment (GMM) using the Arellano–Bond dynamic panel data estimation method. The rate of social sustainability reporting was 39.4%. Relatively, Mauritian and South African firms had the most effective board committee characteristics and higher levels of social sustainability reporting. Although institutional ownership had no significant effect on social sustainability reporting, it moderated the effect of sustainability committee independence and sustainability committee gender diversity on social sustainability reporting. This paper presents a new perspective on the corporate governance and social sustainability literature by examining the effect of institutional ownership on board committee characteristics and social sustainability reporting in SSA. In terms of policy implication, there is the need for mandatory regulatory and legal CG framework that is regularly updated at national and regional levels in SSA to motivate listed firms to establish sustainability committees with efficient characteristics to promote social sustainability reporting.

Abstract This article seeks to explain the rise of pro-gender norms and feminist strategies in foreign policy, which are increasingly salient in global politics. How can this trend be theorized? In what ways is this development resisted and contested by other states and international actors? To what extent can we trace continuity and change in regard to gender and foreign policy? To address these major research questions and to spur cross-national comparative studies, this article advances a theoretical framework on gendering foreign policy. It draws on two strands of research, which rarely engage with one another: international feminist theory (IFT) and foreign policy analysis (FPA). We identify three ways in which comparative analysis of gender in foreign policy can be advanced: first, by highlighting the variations of pro-gender norms and enhancing the analytical assessment of cross-national trends; second, by generating a more robust explanation of the rise, embeddedness, and continuity of, as well as resistance to, pro-gender norms in foreign policy in similar and diverse contexts; and third, by examining both continuity and change in pro-gender norms in order to reveal the contestation around gender, which is at the heart of foreign policy.

Worldwide, UNESCO provides a global and authorized set of protocols for the conservation of heritage. The organization has long framed the discourse and practice of cultural heritage management. At the Hangzhou International Congress in 2013, UNESCO declared culture as key to development, thereby confirming the role of culture and cultural heritage in sustainable development. In this article, attention is given to emerging sensory ecofeminism and its links to heritage and tourism in Mauritius, specifically in “unauthorized” heritage management locales and hotel settings. The research problem engaged in this study is that globally, heritage conservation is perceived as being of primary interest to UNESCO, the prerogative of authorized professionals and nominated heritage sites. The goal of the research is to understand the manifestation of cultural heritage and its management in coastal locales and how coastal sites and “unauthorized” heritage managers, hitherto not included in national heritage discourse and practice, may advance inclusive heritage management. Using the anthropological research methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observation to produce ethnographic data in 2022, this study finds that a selection of luxury hotels in Mauritius advances a gender-influenced and ecofeminist discourse that supports heritage, tourism, and sustainability in Mauritius. The conclusion of this study is that “unauthorized” heritage management processes and practices in luxury hotels and tourism establishments can be gender and community inclusive, sensitive to various social hierarchies, and required to achieve environmental sustainability. It is recommended that national heritage institutions and practitioners give more attention to the diverse, often unexpected locales for heritage conservation and inclusion.

AbstractThis article analyses the Mauritian regulatory framework on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and highlights its shortcomings, with the aim of improving the regulation of the approval and monitoring of the use of GMOs in Mauritius. It examines key issues regarding the application for a GMO permit, risk assessment requirements, identification and labelling obligations, post-market monitoring, and liability and redress in the case of damages. There is a need for greater public participation in decision-making on the approval of GMO permits and the monitoring stage procedure, specific civil liability provisions for damage as well as regulation of the coexistence of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops in the Mauritian biosafety framework. Pending the proclamation of the entire Mauritian GMO Act 2004, relevant transitional provisions should also be provided. Beyond legal provisions on biosafety, a national policy on GM products and GMO-related activities should be elaborated.

The integrated regional energy policy and planning (IREPP) framework was devised to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in meeting declared national targets. While the framework advances the comprehensiveness of the feasibility assessment by bringing in concepts like environment economic equity, the muted way in which institutional factors and capacity are addressed remains weak and ineffective. Here, we corrected this weakness by presenting an IREPP framework that is enhanced by integrating principles of the institutional assessment and design (IAD) framework. The IAD framework emphasizes the careful consideration of contextual factors, it draws attention to the full range of transaction costs, and does not presume a priori that one type of institutional arrangement. This IREPP-IAD framework was used to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in three different island jurisdictions—Taiwan, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. With ambitious national targets, these islands are good testing grounds for this updated approach. Through qualitative comparative case study analysis, several institutional factors were found to play an influence if national energy policies are likely to meet set targets. These factors included: government/policy decision makers and the decision/policymaking environment; governance structure and commitment for energy policy; existing policy instruments and tools that are in play and those planned; polycentricity; stakeholder participation and community building; market dynamics; information transparency; pilot programs and technology innovations/research; compliance or responsibilities under the Paris Accord; grid connectivity and monitoring of the policy implementation progress. This study contributes in two ways. First, by providing a more robust framework for assessing institutional arrangements that moderate how energy policies are implemented and second, providing insightful assessments of the energy policies in three island jurisdictions, thereby increasing our understanding of island energy policymaking and implementation in these understudied geographies.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is increasingly being used to support the process of academic teaching in the higher education sector. However, it is imperative to understand the causes for minimal utilisation of ICT tools by female academic teaching staff in their teaching process, resulting in gender inequity in technology. The research examined the correlation between ICT integration in the teaching process by female academic teaching staff in the higher education sector in Mauritius and the factors that could improve such integration in line. Futures thinking methodology was used for this study to address policy, strategies and actions to support appropriate futures. It comprised an evaluation of the sources and causes of change to map a probable future and a preferable future. The future thinking methods included signalling, horizon scanning, future wheel analysis, alternate futures framework and determining scenarios. As a result of the research, recommendations were made to assist policy makers and decision makers to develop evidence based policies to address gender inequity in the use of technology in higher education.

Integrating the behavioral and institutional approaches to comparative politics will provide a more comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding why differences in political engagement among men and women vary cross-nationally and cross-temporally. This essay advances the argument that gender-related policies and institutions are not only outcomes in the political process, but also exert powerful influence over citizens' interests, values, and perceptions of politics. This policy feedback loop has implications for a wide array of political attitudes and activities—from political interest to running for elected office. Specifically, the adoption and expansion of national policies on issues such as equal wages, childcare provision, paid maternity leave, and violence against women carry important messages to the electorate: Issues that disproportionately affect women, long considered private, have become important national policy choices.

PurposeUniversities need to manage their knowledge assets, and, to work creatively to maximize the enablers and minimize the barriers associated with knowledge management processes. This research offers a comparative perspective on knowledge management in universities in two countries whose university sectors are at different stages of their development, South Africa and Mauritius.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with expert informants from 10 high-ranking universities in Mauritius and South Africa, who held senior roles in research and its management within their respective universitiesFindingsBoth enablers and barriers (eandb) were evident in relation to: strategies and policies, organizational structures, rewards and incentives, culture, technology, leadership, human resources, resources and funding, and university-industry linkages, although the significance of these eandbs varied between the three knowledge processes, knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer. Overall, Mauritius, with a less developed university sector, faced more challenges in respect of knowledge management than did South Africa.Originality/valueThis study's theoretical contribution is a holistic framework for enabling KM in universities on the basis of a mapping between KM eandb's and KM processes. This comparative country level study, embracing a number of universities, offers insights into national policy, and cultural expectations that influence the extent and nature of barriers and enablers to effective KM. The insights offered by this study will be valuable for Mauritius and South Africa, and also for universities in other countries.

From a documentary methodology close to legal hermeneutics, the article examines the problems of gender inequality; in particular, the study focuses on the problems of gender inequality in the Ukrainian National Police. The concepts and main stages of formation and development of gender policy in Ukraine are analyzed. The factors contributing to the emergence of gender inequality in the Ukrainian National Police have been studied. These include, firstly, the unequal position of women and men in society due to gender stereotypes. The article analyzes the components, characteristics, and functions of the mechanism for ensuring gender equality in the Ukrainian National Police. Particular attention is paid to the legal basis for ensuring gender equality in the activities of the Ukrainian National Police. To this end, the normative framework aimed at ensuring gender equality in the Ukrainian National Police was analyzed. It is concluded that, despite significant changes in the content of the laws to establish the principle of gender equality, there is still a long way to go to achieve effective equality.

The consequences of gender-based violence in academic cultures are severe for individuals, the study and work climate, and for the quality of research and education. EU and national policy frameworks are developed since long, guiding academic institutions work on ending violence and abuse in the European Research Area (ERA). In this article, a critique and solution to specific dilemmas and contestations immanent in transforming ERA wide policy development into effective actions on the institutional level are presented. The analysis and policy input builds on extensive knowledge from long-term gender mainstreaming programs in national contexts, thorough experience from working amidst a research political landscape with conflicting academic, political, and bureaucratic paradigms, and research-based knowledge on policy development on gender-based violence. A core contribution from the article is the development of a generic, intermediating, and systemic institutional framework for implementation, acknowledging both the ERA policy developments and the day-to-day challenges on the institutional level, from the viewpoint of succeeding in ending gender-based violence in all ERA institutions. Also, a model for monitoring and evaluation of progress on the institutional level is proposed, accompanied by assessment criteria and a set of well-defined indicators. The proposed institutional framework can serve as an important step forward, in a collaborative effort among ERA stakeholders, and serve as inspiration for global academic institutions and national contexts to foster progress on the endemic of gender-based violence permeating academic communities.

This chapter examines how the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (PTRC) turned from policy suggestions to the symbolic realm of public hearings as part of its efforts to construct and implement a new space of horizontal communication to facilitate the national reconciliation process. The PTRC public hearings aimed to build a new national narrative by giving voice to the victims/testimoniantes and educating the public on lesser-known aspects of the conflict utilizing a human rights framework. This chapter analyzes how procedural and representational issues hindered the full potential of the PTRC public hearings, including the selection of testimonies and the testimonies themselves that demonstrate the restricted qualities of both victimhood and motherhood. It also considers the politics of reception that characterizes the hearings and concludes by suggesting that careful attention to the workings of language, temporality, and gender representation could aid in overcoming the discrimination that impedes democracy and social harmony.

AbstractFrom Adam Smith’s 1776 classic “The Wealth of Nations” until modern times, the principle of fairness has remained one of the crucial principles on which tax systems are to be based. However, even modern tax and budgetary systems are far from being gender equitable. This chapter provides an analysis of the ways in which taxation, as well as the subsequent spending of resources collected therewith, influence gender equality within a household, at the workplace and within the broader economy. This analysis should enable the reader to utilise the gender equality principle as a framework for re-evaluating the applicable national and international sources of tax law, as well as public expenditure management on various levels of the government. This chapter will show why gender equality should become a priority for governments when creating their fiscal policy and executing their budgets.

AbstractThe purpose of this concluding chapter is to offer scholars, policy makers, and organizational leaders a preliminary framework for diagnosing barriers to engaged fatherhood and for generating policies, programs, and behavioral interventions to promote gender equity in parenting. We start by reviewing the case for engaged fatherhood to support the health and welfare of men and their families and to regain momentum in the stalled revolution toward gender equality. Building from the cross-disciplinary and cross-national collaboration that led to the construction of this edited volume, we propose three working principles for reducing the barriers to engaged fatherhood: (1) create individual, non-transferable parenting resources explicitly for fathers, (2) reduce economic conflicts between breadwinning and caregiving, and (3) build supportive social networks for engaged fatherhood. We explain how these principles apply to social policy, as well as to work and healthcare practices—the three fields of scholarship and practice represented at our original Fatherhood Experts Meeting. We conclude with suggestions for further cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural collaboration to enhance engaged fatherhood.

AbstractThis chapter provides a narrative of the key policies, initiatives and actions that have transformed both the landscape of gender equality in Higher Education in Ireland, and the role of gender equality in research policy and public engagement in STEM over the last decade. It aims to provide leaders committed to gender equality with examples of good practice within the EU-Irish context. The first part of the chapter focuses on the EU gender equality strategies for Higher Education. It explains the review of gender equality undertaken by the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA), the significant findings, and the National Gender Action Plan designed to address the issues identified. It contains examples of high-level initiatives implemented to deliver on key actions. These include centres of excellence for Gender Equality, and affirmative actions taken to address imbalance at senior levels in the Irish Higher Education system. It also provides an account of Irish participation in the UK Advance Higher Education (Advance HE) gender supports including the women’s leadership programme ‘Aurora’, and the ‘Athena SWAN’ charter that provides an accreditation framework for auditing, supporting and transforming gender equality in Higher Education Institutions. For context, some examples of implementing these in an Irish Institution are provided. The chapter then reviews the gender equality strategies and policies of the main research funding organisations in Ireland, namely Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), and the Irish Research Council (IRC). It indicates how gender equality manifests in achieving gender balance in the Irish research community; and in funding applications and consequently in research design to embed the gender element. It also provides an overview of recent national studies carried out to analyse the Irish public’s perceptions and awareness of STEM in society, and factors leading to career and study choices by young Irish people. It signposts to the recent actions to address gender equality provided under SFI’s remit for public engagement in STEM.

AbstractThe life course perspective is used in analysis of the older workers relations to the labour market in a societal context. Transition to the market economy of Albania has increased the vulnerability especially for two categories: the youngest, as the new entries into the labour market, and the oldest workers, who found it difficult to be adjusted to the labour market demand, after the failure of state enterprises, changes in working environments, social services, family, etc. The investigation of older workers in the labour market is focused on five dimensions: (1) the labour market structure and employment status of older workers; (2) the employment & VET policies; (3) the work-life balance with ageing; (4) health and (5) retirement.In the beginning of 1990s, the early retirement was the first policy intervention to cope with massive unemployment of older workers. Then, the parametric reforms of PAYG social insurance for increasing the retirement ages and the insurance period have had an impact on extending the working life of older workers of 10 years until 2018. However, the replacement rate was lowering from 74.2% in 1990, to 56% in 1993 when reform started, to further 41% in 2018 which impose pensioners to continue working or delaying the retirement. The increased youth unemployment, atypical and informal employment, has been new challenges for older workers to be adjusted to the labour market demand and only 10% of them can continue working after the retirement age. The development of employment services, VET, health care and social protection have been inadequate to promote social inclusion of older workers.In the framework of the EU integration, Albania has pursued a process of harmonization the legal framework with EU standards. National strategies have been enacted to guarantee human rights, gender equality, and an inclusive society. The social inclusion of older workers into the labour market is a complex issue that depended not only of the Government interventions, but also by the active engagement of other stakeholders. In the Albanian tradition family continues to be a strong supporting institution for older people and children, very likely to the Abbado’s idea in Italy.This chapter is based on an analysis of policy documents, research and statistics from INSTAT, Eurostat, World Bank, etc. The Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015, and European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) 2016 are used to identify age and gender patterns regarding work-life balance and social inclusion. The analysis suggests that to fully address the complexity of the inclusion of older workers in the labour market, an integrated approach should involve all relevant policy areas such as education, health, employment, and social protection, as well as engagement of all community stakeholders.

This chapter examines the policy context of prevention work on gender based violence (GBV) in UK universities, with a focus on Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It first provides an overview of the current situation facing UK universities as they develop their responses to GBV before contextualising this by identifying the key factors that influence GBV policy in each country using a three-point conceptual framework. It then reviews current developments in universities' approaches to the issue of GBV in their national context and concludes with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges facing the UK higher education sector as it develops its approach to GBV prevention. The chapter proposes a theoretical framework that involves a gendered analysis and a whole sector response, along with intervention and prevention programmes that include universities getting involved in local coordinated community responses to GBV and adopting a whole systems approach to GBV.

Abstract This chapter proposes a multi-dimensional framework about how context molds mental templates of leadership and when women will be viewed as leaders. Context is both macro/national (extent of incorporation of women into government, national policy agenda, electoral rules, parliamentary or presidential democracy), and micro/individual (in-groups, family context). Extant literature yields assumptions about how these macro- and micro-level factors, role congruity, and gender stereotypes affect whether people have “traditional” templates (leaders are men), or templates where gender is not a central attribute of leadership. The chapter then presents the case selection for countries where an experiment measured evaluations of men and women as leaders across levels of posts, ability to win votes, and in diverse policy areas. The countries (in chronological order studied) are Costa Rica, Israel, Canada, Uruguay, England, the United States, Sweden, and Chile.

This chapter explores the negative and positive effects of algorithms on human rights and gender-based discrimination. It presents the existing legal framework including its shortcomings and the main constitutive elements of a future human rights law (HRL) framework on algorithmic gender-based discrimination. Rather than being neutral and overcoming all potential decision-making errors of humans, algorithms perform only as accurately as the design of the algorithm and the underlying (training) data. Data can be the source of bias, inaccuracy, and discrimination and can reflect existing inequalities and stereotypes in society and reinforce discrimination. In addition to the regulation of algorithms’ potential negative impacts for society, this chapter argues for using artificial intelligence (AI), to detect gender discrimination, and more generally achieving less biased and noisy decision-making. Although the importance—and ubiquitous presence—of AI and the risk of algorithmic discrimination have been recognised in policy documents, no specific legal instrument has been adopted at the United Nations (UN) level. Against this background, this chapter sketches out avenues for regulation from a HRL perspective and advocates a hybrid approach ensuring the respect of human rights and the principle of gender equality at both global (UN) and local (regional and national) levels.

In a period that witnessed the growth of mass media and related theories on how to influence public opinion, cultural diplomacy emerged as a specific model of communication that sought to appeal to particular social groups or a government. The introduction argues that there is value in lending agency to cultural initiatives in diplomacy, not only because it forces scholars to examine how cultural institutions and policies have affected government policy, but also because it shows that diplomats and civil society actors fought over the ways in which their countries were represented overseas. The book's transnational approach to cultural diplomacy allows us to capture this complex story of cooperation between non-state actors who crossed national boundaries. In addition, the transnational framework also allows us to consider the disruption of contacts and flow between countries, such as during the two world wars, when communication links as well as political relations between Britain and mainland Europe were renegotiated. The introduction then moves to a discussion about the gender of cultural diplomacy and the changing vocabulary of this policy domain. It ends with a discussion on European encounters and cosmopolitanism in late nineteenth and twentieth century Britain.

The institutional framework of the multilateral trading system (MTS) assumes that trade policies and agreements are gender neutral. There is very little known on the impact of trade liberalization on women, partly because of lack of gender-disaggregated data in trade statistics and partly because of lack of gender awareness in economic analysis. This chapter discusses the issue of trade liberalization and gender gap in general, then the issue of trade liberalization and women employment specifically, to evaluate the impact of trade liberalization on women with special reference to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Finally, the chapter concludes and discusses the policy recommendations as to whether national-level policy recommendations or international ones are necessary to move towards a gender-balanced trading system.

This chapter explores the interplay of culture, nationalism and religion and their interaction with legality and access to abortion in particular contexts. Starting from the position that institutions do not operate in a vacuum but are influenced by values and norms which makes them part of the cultural fabric of a society, the chapter explores gendered notions of nationalism and culture. The role of faith based organisations in shaping international policy illustrates how religious norms shape conservatism and alternately how liberal organisations challenge such norms. A consideration of transitional societies allows for an analysis of how abortion is positioned in a framework whereby cultural, national and religious norms typically influence conservative discourses. In such settings gender rights becomes subservient to national and cultural identity or alternately may become core to legal reform. Two case studies, Northern Ireland and South Africa, illustrate how abortion discourses are shaped in transitioning societies.

On September 2015, the Republic of Moldova, along with other 192 members of the UN, committed to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by adopting the Declaration of the Summit on Sustainable Development. The national policy agenda is only partially aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and one third of SDGs targets are not included in any of the national policy papers. Based on SDGs, the Government developed, approved and submitted to Parliament the National Development Strategy “European Moldova 2030”. At the same time, a number of sectorial strategies and programs were approved for the period until 2021 or 2022, which also provides for the adoption of urgent measures to revise them for the next period. Successful implementation of SDGs depends on how flexible the strategic planning framework is, that is now quite problematic in Moldova. Republic of Moldova has too many policy papers, which often overlap and contradict each other, are not properly monitored and assessed, and the responsibilities among implementing partners are not clearly shared and integrated into the budgetary planning processes. One of the possibilities to mainstream gender aspects in national reforms is modification of current national legislation, which would oblige public authorities (central and local) to develop and promote their strategic documents with taking into account women’s rights. The research examines the sector of public policy reform in the Republic of Moldova by mapping existing public policy documents – strategies and programs – through the lens of gender.

The Republic of Moldova does not yet have a comprehensive gender budgeting framework in force. The Republic of Moldova legislative and policy framework for gender equality is expressed in Law no. 5 of 09.02.2006 on ensuring equal opportunities between women and men. Moldova’s Parliament and Ministry of Finances are responsible for its national budget cycle (planning and budgeting processes). Recently, the integration of the gender perspective was achieved in the Budget Circulars and the Methodological Set regarding the development, approval and amendment of the budget (Order of the Ministry of Finance no.209 from 2015), which was implemented for the 2022 budget. It is well known that gender budgeting can be applied to any type of budget system at all levels of government, be it central government level or regional and local government levels. Examining the factors that underline introducing gender budgeting at central government level is important because budgetary decisions on both revenue and expenditure are made at this level. Effective implementation of gender budgeting requires enabling factors: political commitment, technical capacity, disaggregated data etc. The purpose of this article is to examine the common elements needed to implement effective gender budgeting, as well as to answer how gender budgeting works in the Republic of Moldova.

Ineffective through-life management of weapons and ammunition contributes to diversion and illicit proliferation and thus facilitates, exacerbates, and accelerates armed conflict, armed violence, including gender-based violence, and instability. This impedes social and economic development. Weapons and ammunition management (WAM) is the oversight, accountability, and governance of conventional arms and ammunition throughout their life cycle. UNIDIR has identified ten key functional areas for WAM, including a national coordination mechanism and a national legal and regulatory framework, as well as measures to be taken for transfer controls, stockpile management, marking, record-keeping, dealing with illicit arms and ammunition, and disposal. This is the first annual update by UNIDIR to recognize the progress made by nine African states to strengthen their WAM policy and practice after undertaking a WAM baseline assessment using UNIDIR’s methodology. The report presents national examples of progress in addressing gaps and deficiencies in the ten key functional areas for WAM.

Effective weapons and ammunition management (WAM) can reduce the number of illicit conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons, and ammunition in circulation, prevent their diversion to unauthorized users, and mitigate the risk of unplanned explosions of munitions. WAM can thereby contribute to preventing armed conflicts and violence, including gender-based violence, as well as the maintenance of peace and the achievement of socioeconomic and development goals. By early 2024, 15 states – including 12 African states – have assessed and made efforts to strengthen their national frameworks governing the management of conventional weapons and ammunition throughout their life cycle using UNIDIR’s Reference Methodology for National WAM Baseline Assessments. UNIDIR has identified 10 key functional areas for WAM, including a national coordination mechanism and a legal and regulatory framework, as well as measures to be taken to control transfers, manage stockpiles, ensure accountability through marking and record-keeping, dealing with illicit arms and ammunition, and final disposal. This is the third annual update by UNIDIR to recognize the progress made to strengthen WAM policies and practices by those 12 African states. This update provides an initial comparative analysis of progress made across the regional baseline of WAM policy and practice. It sheds light on persistent as well as context-specific challenges encountered by States in strengthening their national WAM frameworks. The update presents national examples of activities and progress made in oftentimes challenging environments from 2023 to early 2024 in the 10 key WAM functional areas. The exchange of good practices and lessons learned in strengthening WAM policy and practice in Africa seeks to enhance the knowledge of States, regional organisations and international partners on ways to establish and implement comprehensive national and regional frameworks governing the full lifecycle of arms and ammunition. UNIDIR encourages the Community of States, regional organisations and relevant international partners to consult its WAM Country Insight and Annual Update series as a useful reference to support the planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation for future WAM projects.

This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU’s (African Union’s) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only “about” data, but which “is” data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), “At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge.” Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is “trust” – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. “This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy”, says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.